Porsche Boxster – First Drive: We had so much fun driving the 2007 Porsche Boxster – two hours on one of the finest roads in America – it felt like adultery. Though we have no personal experience with infidelity, we’re guessing the range of emotions we experienced while pressing the new, more powerful Boxster on a sublime ribbon of Tennessee asphalt was akin to an illicit afternoon in a swanky hotel room: spine-tingling anticipation, extreme elation, dank fear, and then guilt.

We started our day in a 2007 Boxster S fitted with a new six-speed Tiptronic auto-manual transmission. As we loafed it toward Tennessee’s tantalizing Cherohala Skyway we could sense the added performance of the larger 3.4-liter, 295-horsepower engine, and it was like a summons to our foolish blood. Then, once we arrived at the road’s start near Robbinsville, we opened it up and the knife-edged mountains on either side of us rang with our whoops and screams. The idea of our tryst being interrupted by a gun-toting chaperone in a cruiser made us pucker and wilt for a minute, but we abandoned our inhibitions to the heat of the moment. Afterward we felt some guilt at having so much fun that it hardly seemed fair or right when so many people must drive boring cars. That too, however, was temporary because we went right out again in a regular Boxster with a five-speed manual.

You know what they say: Once a cheater, always a cheater.

When the Porsche Boxster debuted in 1997 it had a 201-horsepower, 2.5-liter horizontally-opposed “boxer” engine. Ten years later, the 2007 model boasts a 2.7-liter boxer engine pushing 245 horsepower, up five horsepower from 2006. And torque, which we all know is the real indication of a car’s ability to haul ass, is up to 201 lb.-ft. between 4,600 and 6,000 rpm, an increase of two lb.-ft. from last year. Modest gains to be sure, but gains nonetheless. The new Boxster is now less a slightly wimpy roadster and more a bona fide Porsche sports car. A good indicator of how much the regular-strength Boxster has improved is that it has only five horsepower less than the original Boxster S that arrived in 2000.

Already one of the best roadsters in its class, the Boxster S is now even better with the addition of the same 295 horsepower, 3.4-liter powerplant used in the Cayman S. Think of it as a convertible Cayman, which is a very good thing indeed. The 2007 Boxster S gains 15 horsepower and 15 lb.-ft. of torque from last year’s model, which is like adding more muscle and more speed to New Orleans’ already quick and talented running back Reggie Bush – the idea’s just plain exciting.

Gains in both engines were made via tweaks to the engine design and by adding the same VarioCam Plus technology that’s used in the Porsche 911 and Cayman S. VarioCam Plus is like having a miniature accountant in the engine. He’s constantly monitoring airflow and making adjustments to the cams and valves to insure there’s no waste and that maximum power is the bottom line. In addition, the crankshaft in the 2.7-liter regular Boxster engine is lighter than the previous model’s and the holes in the hollow piston pins are larger for even more weight savings. The lighter weight makes the vehicle faster and more responsive. Coolant flow has also been improved, which reduces the risk of engine knock and improves the compression ratio, so that the base Boxster actually has a better compression ratio than the Boxster S. The most enjoyable benefit of these improvements is the engine’s broad torque band and its ability to deliver maximum power all the way from 4,600 rpm to 6,000 rpm. Porsche claims the new Boxster goes 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, has a top speed of 160 mph, and still manages an impressive 23 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. During our sweet, stolen afternoon with the Boxster we can attest to its improved performance, but our screaming around in third gear near redline for most of the time played havoc with our mileage. Love hurts.

Though the 3.4-liter engine in the Boxster S has the same external dimensions as the 2.7-liter engine, it’s what’s inside that counts. The 3.4-liter engine has larger pistons for more airflow and combustion and thus more power. Many of its working parts are identical to those used in the 911 Carrera – good enough for a 0 to 60 time of 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 169 mph. Those are bodacious specifications and downright libidinous when you let them out on a road like the Cherohola Skyway.

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